Bills Beat Blog

By Joe Buscaglia

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Bills' Morrison assuming veteran leadership role

by Joe Buscaglia,posted Nov 29 2012 1:34PM

In the off-season, the Buffalo Bills elected to bring linebacker Kirk Morrison back on a one-year contract with the intention of him playing. With the Bills switching back to a 4-3, the team thought he would be the best fit to start at strongside linebacker.

Twelve weeks in to the season Morrison has yet to be active in one of the team's games, which wasn't exactly the expectations of either side. Despite not dressing for the games, Morrison has really taken on the veteran leadership role to help younger players when they may be getting frustrated by how things are going.

One of the most glaring examples of that came in the Bills' 45-3 loss to San Francisco, in which Morrison was basically in the hip pocket of wideout Stevie Johnson when the team's top receiver was getting frustrated. He talked to him and helped calm him down on the sidelines despite only being dressed in a Bills hat, t-shirt and shorts.

But there is an obvious frustration that may not be vocalized, but any competitive player in the NFL will have it if they aren't seeing the field at all. Morrison said he's just staying ready for the call.

"Just doing what I can -- what I can control," he said. "Working out every day, being at practice every day, being just intense in my meetings, intense in my preparations. I prepare every week as if I'm gonna play. I'm on this team for a reason. I wish I could go out there and show what I can do, but the coaches make that decision. For me, I just sit back and do what I can to help the guys out. I try to give as much knowledge as I can, try to cheer the guys up, make sure the guys are in tune to what's going on in the football game. Other than that, just waiting for your opportunity to come."

The Bills will be going up against one of Morrison's old teams, the Jacksonville Jaguars, at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday.